Prince Charles opens up about 'distressing' coronavirus experience

Prince Charles has spoken about his experience after testing positive to the coronavirus in a video message shared online.

Two days after leaving coronavirus isolation, the 71-year-old can be seen sitting at his desk in Birkhall, where he and his wife Camilla have been staying for just over a week, and said their hearts went out to older people struggling at this time.

“Having recently gone through the process of contracting this coronavirus – luckily with relatively mild symptoms – I now find myself on the other side of the illness, but still in no less a state of social distance and general isolation,” Charles initially clarified.

He went on to detail the most ‘distressing’ aspect of contracting the virus, which saw him remain in complete isolation.

“As we are all learning, this is a strange, frustrating and often distressing experience when the presence of family and friends is no longer possible and the normal structures of life are suddenly removed,” he said.

“At such an unprecedented and anxious time in all our lives, my wife and I are thinking particularly of all those who have lost their loved ones in such very difficult and abnormal circumstances, and of those having to endure sickness, isolation and loneliness.”

The Duke of Rothesay, as he is known in Scotland, is a patron of Age UK, and Camilla is a patron for The Silver Line.

The heir to the throne urged people to be kind and “live with hope” in a challenging time when life has changed so much.

He offered hope, saying: “None of us can say when this will end, but end it will.”

He also praised communities who are pulling together to help neighbours, saying that “this network of selfless assistance is, in itself, helping to provide vital support and reassurance to the hard-pressed professional services”.

Prince Charles also used the opportunity to praise Britain’s healthcare workers, new volunteers and supermarket shelf stackers.

He said: “It is clearly essential, therefore, that such key people are treated with special consideration when coming off their exhausting duties and trying to do their shopping, for instance, while having to contend with constant anxiety about their own families and friends.

“In this regard, we also think of all those many shop workers who are toiling as hard as they can throughout each and every night to keep supermarket shelves stocked – a further ’emergency service’ on which we are all relying.”

The message comes two days after Prince Charles confirmed he had ended his period of self-isolation in his home in Balmoral, but Clarence House said his wife Camilla would remain in isolation until 14 days was up.

Prince Albert of Monaco, the first head of state to be diagnosed with the virus, also left self-isolation this week.

The Queen is understood to be preparing a televised address to the nation.

With reporting by Rebecca Taylor.

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